The APUSH Exam

Friday May 11, 2007

There is no single way to prepare for the APUSH exam.
There is no magic formula, and no substitute for hard work. But
there is no need to do everything on your own, no need to start from
scratch. Below are some specific tools for you to use, and I
recommend you develop a plan for utilizing the weeks ahead to prepare
for the APUSH Exam.

However, there are some general pieces of advice to take into
consideration:

APUSH the Class is designed around the APUSH the Exam, so any
of the materials you have from class will assist you in preparing for
the exam.

While buying an APUSH Exam prep book is not required if you
use the materials below, some people find one helpful, and local
bookstores & libraries usually carry them.

Working alone is right for some people, but others benefit
from a group environment for this type of endeavor.

And finally,

You can do this!

GENERAL REVIEW

The file below is a very large outline created by an APUSH student; it
focuses on the main facts of major eras. Students over the past
few years have foudn this one quite valuable.

Beware with all of these files, they are rather large. I have
placed copies of each in the APUSH binder in the Library if you want to
copy them in school.

POLITICAL HISTORY REVIEW

My APUSH class is relatively strong on social & cultural history,
but a little weak on political history. I recommend you use some
of the following sources to fill in some of the gaps.

The chronology below breaks up events into American history into
presidential administrations. While the president in office is
not responsible for everything that happens and some events don't prove
significant until later, this should give you an idea of the policies
& actions of various presidents.

We have done some work on Supreme Court cases, but there are many that
we did not cover. And given the importance the APUSH Exam places
on judicial review, it would serve you well to spend some time with the
document below which was created by David Schmus, a teacher at Los
Altos High School in Califronia.

Sometimes it is advantageous to have a general overview of a time
period. While no essay questions will ever ask you to summarize a
period, knowing the basic trends can help you with any essay question
that comes your way. The following summaries come from Greg
Feldmeth, an APUSH teacher in California.

At some point you will need to test your knowledge to see where you are
at. I recommend you use the quiz sites below to diagnose your
strengths & weaknesses and plan your review accordingly.
These sites can also serve as excellent last-minute review to solidify
basic information going into the exam. These sites are both
resources provided by two of the countries best APUSH teachers.